ZoneTale
by ultimatevulpix
Summary: After the Player sides with the Judge and defeats the Batter, Frisk and Chara use a glitched reset that lands them in the world of OFF.
1. Chapter 1

**So… An OFF and Undertale crossover. ...Enjoy! (Please tell me if my grammar or anything else is terrible. It'd be nice to know that.) Word count is just under 2,000 words.** Having recently finished yet another pacifist run, and letting Chara force their way out of reality, the child and the demon stood in the void, in the middle of a rather heated conversation. Frisk was protectively guarding the empty save file, with Chara standing a few feet away from them, with a pleading look in their eyes. "Frisk, oh my stars. Just. Let. Me. Reset. I'm bored of standing here, and I know that you are too. Just let me take control and-" "That isn't the point, Chara!", Frisk protested. "You've already made me reset twice, and I still feel really bad about it!" "You think I _care?_ I just want to have a bit of fun, as compared to sitting in the void like I was still dead." Frisk squinted even more than they already were, and their arms flew up and along the save file, trying to block Chara's desperate grasps.

"I'm not letting you do it," Frisk said, with a determined look in their eyes. Chara groaned and ran for the empty save file, screeching, "Just. Let me. _Do it!"_ Chara's tackle slammed Frisk to the ground, and the attacker thrust their palm against the screen of holographic nature. The part of the screen that Chara was touching was glitching up a bit, and Frisk had turned their head to the sight with a expression of slight horror, and Chara's face quickly molded into a similar one. "Chara," Frisk whispered. "Don't you think, that as a demon, it wouldn't be safe for you to reset?" Their voice began to be drowned out by the scratchy, repeating sound of the glitching screen.

Chara, in response, started panicking and yelling. " _I don't care! Asriel could do it, so why can't I?!"_ They tried to yank their hand from the reset screen, only for them and their onlooker to discover that the glitching particles had fastened Chara's hand to the screen. With panicked grunts, Chara tried to wrench their hand from the save file. "Gah! _Frisk!",_ they called, pleading for help. Frisk immediately got up and grabbed Chara's arm, pulling with as much force as they could."This should be working?!", Frisk yelled, but nothing they did changed the situation. The glitching sound grew to the point where even Chara's yelling was being muffled. " _Why isn't this working?!",_ Chara screamed at the top of their lungs, but it made no difference, as their hand was still fastened to the screen.

The two continued to remove Chara's hand from the save file for a few more seconds, yelling all the while, making the fatigue of Chara's desperate actions began to weigh down on them, even with all their determination. The horrific sound of the glitching screen was unbearable now, and Frisk just wished to put their hands over their ears, even if it might have meant sacrificing Chara's small chance of freedom for a short while. All the while, the save file's screen started to white out, and Chara yelled a frightened call of terror, though it could only barely be heard over the din. "Frisk! Help! _Help!",_ they screeched, flinching from all the excessive noise. The white light of the save file covered its entire screen, and the light quickly began grow in intensity. Soon, the light had made Frisk and Chara nothing but mere silhouettes. The light grew and grew, and soon, when it and the noise cleared, there was nothing left.

The Judge sat in a room in Zone 0, lost in thought, with his eyes glazed over the empty cat food bowl that the _Batter_ had first obtained for him. The Batter, the one who had killed the Guardians, the Elsen, the Queen. When the so-called _purifier_ was about to flip the final switch, thus ending the game of OFF, in a burst of bravery, the Judge had intervened. He remembered pleading the Player to join the old cat's cause. With a surprising change of heart, the Player had joined Pablo to fight against the "big, frightening, ducky," as Zacharie's dead sister, Sugar, had described. As the Player guided Pablo to victory, the utter hate he felt for the beast was amplified a thousand times, even if the Add-Ons, which had vanished at the Batter's transformation, were not there to act as infuriating allies to the murderer. Delivering blow after blow to the "Bad Batter," just as the player commanded, the battle ended. Just after, the Judge struck the final blow on the Batter, killing him. Reliving the moment of the final words Pablo had said before he left the Room for what would hopefully be the last time, the Judge whispered in a scratchy voice, back in the empty room of Zone 0, "Hence nothing remains except our regrets."

Blinking out of his daze, the Judge sat up and stretched in the normal way that cats do, when he heard a knock on the door that led to Zone 0's sole red cube. _A knock._ Head perking up, Pablo walked towards the door, going over the possibilities of someone still being alive. "Hello?", he meowed, "If you are but a sojourning Secretary, please leave." A short bit of silence came, when the visitor laughed. "Hahaha, Pablo." The Judge's large grin grew larger. Didn't he know this voice? "I am nothing but a humble merchant, unable to sell his wares to the dead." The door was then opened by the visitor, revealing a man in thick clothing that managed to cover all his skin, and a grinning cat mask, one akin to Pablo's own face. "Surely you remember me?", the masked man-no, _Zacharie,_ asked, stepping into the room.

The Judge smiled as Zacharie sat down on the yellow metal floor, cross-legged as he awaited Pablo's response. "And here I thought that you were dead, just like the rest of them. What has compelled you to come here, Zacharie?" "Well," the merchant replied, "You know how I've been saying that the world of OFF is nothing but a video game?" Pablo nodded. While he never quite believed Zacharie's words about this topic, at least the merchant was smart and self-aware, so there was probably at least some truth to the masked man's words… "So," Zacharie continued, cutting Pablo's thoughts off, "I believe that the video game ended when you killed the Batter." The Judge's eternal smile faltered, and how Zacharie had known that the Judge had killed the Batter was beyond the cat. "However, the feeling of this world being a video game has recently come back. To figure out why that is, I came here, _amigo._ I want to check the whole Zone, if that's alright with you."

Pablo looked over to Zacharie in a calm tone, though the tip of his tail was flicking back and forth in slight annoyance. Zacharie just sat there and stared, his expression behind the admittedly-uplifting mask of Valerie not changing a bit. Not seeing any point in refusing Zacharie's request, Pablo sighed. "You may go and look around as you see fit. If you want to pay your respects while you are doing so, I will unlock the basement, if you wish," the Judge offered.

Zacharie got up, looking at the room's exit to the rest of Zone 0. His black gloved hands were gripping his white sweater with a red heart in the middle, and he turned to face Pablo. "I am fine, amigo. Instead, you could just as well join me while I explore the Zone," Zacharie replied, sounding a bit more… solemn than usual. "Very well." Zacharie opened the door and walked in, holding it open for the Judge. The white cat followed.

Frisk lay on the sickly yellow ground, a bit of their hair dangling from the yellow metal ground and into the pure white waters. The air was neither cold nor warm, and there was not even a slight breeze in this strange place. Groaning, Frisk sat up. What lay before their eyes was nothing but a building of the same sickly yellow color, surrounded by the same paper-white waters. Frisk could do nothing but look at the sight in amazement. "Oh my stars…? Where's… Chara…?", they whispered, and they stood up, their feet clanging against the metal floor. Of course, nobody came, and nobody answered.

They cautiously took a step forward. Nothing happened. They walked over to the edge of the metal, kneeled down, and dipped their finger into the strangely colored water. Nothing happened, though Frisk took the time to wipe the water off on their jeans. _What was this place?_ For several minutes, they did nothing but stand in the middle of the yellow platform, eyeing the building, the floating blocks on little islands beside them, the water, _everything that said that this place wasn't the Underground._ They stood there for a few good moments, the dull feeling of panic sinking in, sinking out. Frisk didn't say a word, and the only sound they could hear was their slight shuffling, their heavy breathing, and the frothing water around them. Until… that wasn't the case.

There was some dull metal clanking coming from the entrance of the building's right entrance, about 30 meters away, and some talking, even though Frisk couldn't discern the words. Their head snapping towards the source of the noise, Frisk tensed, their hands gripping the sides of their sweater. ' _Should I…?',_ Frisk thought, ultimately deciding to sneak towards the building, but not close enough to get off the long platform and onto what could be considered the "property" of the building. As they tiptoed closer, the voices became more apparent. "Zacharie, I do not postulate that there is anything other than a mere spectre here. You are may very well be depredating your time," a scratchy, strangely French-accented voice spoke. "And as for the Batter?", the other person, apparently named Zacharie, replied, also French-accented. The other voice was silent. " _Who's the Batter?",_ Frisk wondered, still not making a sound. _"And who are they?"_

The question was not immediately answered, as the two voice continued their bickering before ever exiting the building. The scratchy voice was talking now, with a hint of annoyance and remaining disbelief on his tongue. "Zacharie, the consequences of if whatever happens to be outside of this door will be dire, if it is malevolent, and if it even is present. You are gaining nothing from this." At the mention of being called anything but a pacifist, Frisk shuffled around to express their annoyance- unfortunately bringing a bit of sound onto the metal, close enough to where the the voices could hear. Frisk's blood ran cold. "Ah, what did I say, Pablo?", Zacharie asked in a obnoxiously proud tone. "Follow me."

Frisk's heart was beating out of their chest as the owners of the two voices- which Frisk had learned to be Zacharie and Pablo- moved towards the entrance, with one pair of footsteps being moderately heavy, and the other being very light. From the entryway, the face of a white cat-like mask poked his head out. Looking around, the mask turned about until it faced towards a cowering Frisk, shaking like a cornered animal. "Pablo," the mask-wearing person spoke, indirectly revealing himself to be Zacharie. Nothing happened except that a peculiar white cat made his way outside the building, finding Frisk, and casting a harsh glare on the child. Frisk wished that they could run away or do _something_ , but there was nowhere to go. Frisk stayed still and hoped that Zacharie and the cat, who was probably Pablo, weren't hostile themselves.

Upon getting a true look at the terrified behavior of Frisk, Pablo lessened a bit, though Zacharie retained his casual stance, not saying a word. "Now, now, now, what do we have here? A human, a spectre?" Pablo's glare returned. "Or perhaps a creature of purification?"

Frisk was silent, and the only noise they made this time was a simple, frightened, gulp.


	2. Chapter 2

The human, as it seemed, was terrified. Watching Pablo interrogate the child through his plaster mask seemed a little wrong. Before Zacharie could step up and say anything, "Now, now, now, what do we have here?", Pablo interrupted, stopping any current chance of Zacharie standing up for the child. However, with Pablo saying _"we,"_ it warmed Zacharie's heart to know that the old cat considered the simple, traitorous merchant as part of his group. There was more to that story, of course, where Pablo had met with Zacharie right before he went to face the Batter in the Room, crossly and properly insulting Zacharie for selling the Batter his wares. He preferred not to think about those times. Zoning back into reality, where there was nothing more than pale yellow metal, some snow-white colored water, and only two other living beings, Zacharie looked back at the child who was wearing a sweater- _'Good choice,'_ Zacharie thought, still in a casual stance as Pablo continued to question the human. "A human? A spectre? Or perhaps a creature of purification?"

The human gulped, and Zacharie frowned, even if it would be hard to tell through the cat mask. He stepped forward, separating Pablo from the shivering human who he had his eyes trained on. Right now, Zacharie _really_ wished he had brought his sword with him to Zone 0, though it would be debatable on whom the masked man would use it on. He stared at the human for a bit longer, who refused to make eye contact. His disapproving frown only growing, Zacharie sighed, and gave a quick glance at the irritated white cat. "Pablo, it would probably be in your best interests to stop scaring the child." He kneeled down and and held his gloved hand out for the child to shake, much to the horror of Pablo. "Zacharie-", Pablo warned, only to be cut off by Zacharie once again, who had full eye contact with the slightly less terrified child. Time to use his experience with small children like Hugo yet again. "So why don't we start over, and just be friends?", he asked, in a slightly friendlier, higher-pitched voice.

To Zacharie's surprise, the human gave a faint smile and took his hand. "Yeah," they quietly said, looking at the ground. They then perked up and met the masked man's eyes. "I'm Frisk. So, this place is kinda weird," they started, earning a strange look from Zacharie, even if that reaction was covered by his cat mask. "Do you know where I am?" "Well, creature… You are in Zone 0, in a place called OFF," Pablo answered, his hostility gone, but his face still wary. Frisk turned to Pablo with a hopeful expression, and Zacharie looked at the cat with doubtful eyes. "OFF consists of 4 different Zones, and a very special place that should not be mentioned," Pablo continued, leveling down his vocabulary to something that a child might understand. "Every other place except for Zone 0 is… well…ruined. _Purified."_ Pablo finished, looking at the metal ground with a sad, regretful expression, having just explained the world of OFF in a hateful tone to a now very-confused child and an unimpressed merchant.

"...Purified?", Frisk asked. Zacharie tightened his grip on Frisk's hand and pulled himself up, giving a heartless chuckle. "Black and white and broken. You don't want to go there, _ami…"_ Zacharie trailed off, looking at Frisk and wondering if they happened to go by boy or girl. Behind him, Pablo wore a thoughtful expression, as if he were wondering the same thing. " _Amigix._ Right?" Frisk smiled, and Zacharie stood taller, filled with determination at correctly guessing Frisk's gender. Letting go of Frisk's hand, Zacharie pointed towards the room where he and Pablo exited, chuckling. "It would be good if we went there. It would be better to explain everything thing that's happening inside than out here. Pablo, why don't you join us?", he asked, walking into the room with Frisk trailing right behind him. Pablo, watching Zacharie explain the floating cubes to Frisk, who was curiously prodding them, sighed and muttered, "Only if the task requires me." The cat followed them inside.

As Pablo walked into the room, Zacharie looked up with a expression that read _'What do you want now, Pablo?',_ and Frisk did the same, yet in a moderately scared fashion. Ignoring the two, Pablo walked over and sat right in front of the empty cat food bowl, motioning with his paw for Frisk and Zacharie to sit down. They did so without a word. Clearing his throat, while Zacharie coughed, Pablo addressed the group. "I believe we have a lot discuss," he said in a stern tone. "Frisk, it is best if you explain first." The child stiffened up, and Pablo's eyes narrowed. How could Zacharie trust this beast, after seeing what had happened the last time?

"I…", Frisk started. "Do I have to explain it?", they asked. "It is better for all of us if you do," Pablo replied, warily watching the anxious child, and ignoring the still, and most likely bored, merchant, whose head was resting on his palm. "Umm… Okay."

And so, Frisk explained the story of their adventure through the Underground, with Pablo nodding in response, and Zacharie adding in few comments here and there, but he mostly just sat there, staring into space, as though he had his mind on something. Frisk, of course, was careful not to include their ability to reset, and when asked about how they got here, just simply lied.

"Creature- Frisk," Pablo started, correcting himself. Zacharie was paying attention too, with tired but curious eyes. Pablo ignored him. Whatever was ailing him at the moment could wait. "Perhaps it would be good if you told us how you got to OFF?"

Frisk shuffled nervously, trying to think of a quick and believable lie. "I… I was killed by Flowey, and I ended up here." Frisk gave a shallow grin. They would believe that, right? This place was enough like a purgatory for that to not be so far off… Luckily, Pablo didn't react too harshly, just going with Frisk's words. "Fair enough. Would you mind telling me more about the Barrier?", he asked. Frisk, without skipping a beat, gave a long and extensive explanation about how the power of 7 human souls are required to break the Barrier.

Pablo nodded in response, and Zacharie, out of his thoughts, did the same. Pablo seemed to have calmed down, trusting Frisk only a slight bit more, and instead of constantly glaring at Frisk, he started to notice that the child's head was drooping, probably from spending so long from talking about the Barrier. The cat sighed. "Well, this has been a rather strange day, no? I believe that you Frisk should go to sleep." Frisk frowned, and quietly asked, "Do you have any pillows?"

"No. We just have metal."

"Oh. Okay then." It was Zacharie's turn to speak now, as he started to turn to another room. "Ah, well, I do believe that we should give you some privacy, then." The masked man tilted his head in a rather cute way, making Frisk grin. "Don't let the space apes bite." "Space… apes?", Pablo and Frisk asked in unison, but Zacharie just stood there, with his mask's grin. "Just part of the secret ending," the merchant spoke. After a short pause, Zacharie spoke again. "Good night, Frisk." The masked man left the room, and Pablo followed soon after.

 **While writing this, I have learned of the recent and saddening death of Felix, creator of the amazing spinOFF HOME, on March 3rd, 2017. May he rest in peace** , **somewhere over the rainbow.**


End file.
